Holy Magic
Power in Faith There exist people who are willing to put their lives and even their eternal souls in the hands of a higher power. It is with that faith that they act as conduits for divine energies where, instead of using the Magic within their bodies or gathering it from their surroundings, they use their bodies to receive and channel divine power of The Light. This way of using magic can be simultaneously considered the easiest, and the most difficult of all traditions and the one that demands utmost will, faith and devotion. Experience and studies, as well as talent, help the caster to perform greater miracles, but the willingness of The Light to lends its power remains the decisive factor (making it impossible for Evil beings to use this Tradition of Magic in any conventional way). Chosen From On High Since they themselves do not "cast magic" but rather "invoke miracles" Holy Casters (most commonly priests) are capable of requesting the The Light's aid and manifesting their power onto the world around them. While these effects are capable of being very great in scale and power (even when compared to other kinds of magic) this means that they can only ever invoke miracles within Their power. For example, one can not use Holy Magic to raise Undead or to Curse someone. Such things stand so contrary to everything the Gods of Good stand for that using their power in such ways would simply always fail. Likewise, if a user of Holy Magic is doing things that contradict the Virtues or go against Good (which The Light is innately aware of when its power is being called upon) The Light can and will recede its blessings - leaving them unable to use Holy Magic. The Domains of The Light While the divine magic of The Light can theoretically be used to cast spells of any domain, it works best with spells that align with its core philosophy: To protect, heal and preserve. In turn it is highly unsuited for spells tied to concepts like Destruction, Debilitation, Domination or Ruin. Restoration The ability to heal and revert harm. Poisons, illness and injury fade before the healing light of users of Holy Magic. Especially skilled and powerful users are capable saving lives from powerful magical diseases and venoms, as well even restoring body parts. Protection The power to ward off harm and Evil. The creation of barriers, protective shields and powerful seals to halt the progress of Evil and stop its servants in their tracks. Purification The power to rid the world of the corruption of Evil and to banish its servants. Examples include breaking curses, turning the Undead, exorcising Ghosts or banishing Demons. Evil beings react strongly to The Light's power, starting from a distinct feeling of aversion, unease and an uncontrollable flight reflex to even suffering physical pain and damage to their unnatural bodies. The Calling Down of Angels Angels. The servants of The Light that come from its realm - the High Heavens. Angels, beings that require large amounts of mana in order to survive, can not easily come down to Zyreema, and most often require a user of Holy Magic to make the transition possible and to supply the mana they need (see and compare to the limitations of other beings that live in highly mana saturated areas like powerful Magical Beasts and True Demons). There are many spells and wards which borrow the power of Angels. Directly summoning them with full autonomy is rare as it requires a very powerful caster and/or a very large and lengthy rituals. But spells that use Angels as mediums between oneself and The Light can, in some cases, simplify certain complicated rituals. Large scale wards that are built into town walls, purification spells meant for ending powerful curses, and many others are sometimes done by building calls to Angels into the prayer. How widespread this practice is and to what scale it is implemented varies from region to region on Zyreema (some Light worshiping countries prefer to make prayers and ask for power from the deity directly while others view asking Angels for aid to be a matter of course). The greatest users of the Tradition of Holy Magic were the priests of the former Avatar Island, and the tradition took an immense blow as many of its users died during the islands fall. Category:Magic Category:Magic Tradition Category:Setting Category:The Light Category:Angels